Warranty help really needed please.

jeannieblue

Anihilator - you are wrong, if OP's daughter gets the repairs done by independent, it will affect warranty in some way, trust me...

Re the service - what on earth can a mechanic leave under the bonnet during a routine service that could cause this problem??? Beggars belief - as do the main dealers, how useless are they? They have now lost a customer and Fiat have someone that won't buy another of their cars, along with family and friends etc... Customer services/relations do not seem to exist anymore.

OP, think that your daughter is making the right decision for herself - re Fiat and the dealership? They have lost a customer... and hopefully more.

soblivion

Thank you for your reply Anihilator.

Anihilator wrote: »

How long between the car being serviced and the fault? I would have to wonder if the mechanic left something somewhere he shouldnt.
11 months 2 weeks after the first service the problem began and then 2 weeks after the problem was already there for the second sevice. I have told the dealership and fiat this which is another reason why I know it wasn't mechanics at VAT registered garage but they only have our word for that apparently.

The warranty itself covers abnormal/manufacturing faults. If you think its caused by one of these you need to get an independent report confirming this in which case you have a warranty claim.
My DD is just fed up of it all, she'll have to get the car towed to which ever independent and really can't afford to pay out for it to just be looked at. Then she'll have to get it towed to the service garage and pay for repair too.

What Fiat has offered is a goodwill gesture. These are one benefit of a dealer history as if the car develops a non warranty fault they are far more likely to pay up some of the cost.

Whilst I feel for your daughter I dont know how she can blame Fiat as the independent garage seems to have backed their stance that the belt wasnt faulty but instead something got in the cover and caused the fault. Now given they havent touched the car you cant even blame them for that.
I should have clarified that the independent garage haven't looked at the vehicle just said that it's more likely that something has dropped into it, it could be a screw or bolt or anything. When the garage repairs it they'll soon see if something's missing or not right but my DD won't be able to prove it as the garage whilst VAT registered and uses fiat parts from the same dealership my DD bought the car from infact is not a fiat dealership garage.

I think in the circumstances £100 probably is a good offer.
Like I said I can't see them giving it to her if the dealership don't repair the car and DD said she'd much sooner the VAT garage repair it as they treat her with respect, they didn't tell her she wasn't a valued customer after the service for a start.

God knows why your daughter wants to invalidate the warranty. That said getting the repair done elsewhere wont invalidate the warranty as long as its a proper part and repair.

She doesn't want to invalidate her warranty but we are under no misconceptions as jeannieblue(Thank you) stated that the dealer/fiat will void it as it hasn't been repaired again by a fiat dealer. It is nearly out of the 2 year warranty and then just that 3rd year one left, like DD says the 2yr warranty is a useless piece of paper unless you can afford to call in solicitors, independents, forensic scientists and lie detectors, the 3rd year of warranty may just as well be spat on and binned.

I have to be quite honest and say if I wanted to gain extra business for my garage/dealership how easy would it be to phone fiat and tell them nope no fault here so we won't repair on warranty make up any rubbish they can think of as a reason why it's not a fault. Knowing a young girl of 21 would probably accept that and pay for it. It's too easy. What's to say the mechanic at the dealership hasn't done it? They're quick to assume DD had a poke about in there how do I know they didn't?

Anihilator

Sorry but if it had this fault when it went to the independent VAT garage and they didnt even find out what was wrong with it; or look into it do not trust them to repair it.

No decent mechanic when faced with such symptons would ignore it and do a service.

soblivion

Anihilator wrote: »

Sorry but if it had this fault when it went to the independent VAT garage and they didnt even find out what was wrong with it; or look into it do not trust them to repair it.

No decent mechanic when faced with such symptons would ignore it and do a service.

They told DD that there was a problem with the car and that they had 5 year old cars outside that sounded better ticking over than hers, they told her that if they investigated it A) it would cost more than just the service and probably the warranty would cover it and she wouldn't have to pay. They actually booked the car into the dealership for her while she was there and told them it wasn't running properly. No fault code registered when they put a machine thing on it and the delearship also said no fault code registered with them either although the engine light was on.
As I say it makes no odds, to be told by a dealership that you bought a brand new car from that you're not a valued customer because you then haven't spent any more with them for servicing is enough for me to know that they'll not be getting any more money from her. She'll just pay for it and chalk it up to experience.

terryya

If she does decide to try and recoup the costs could she try and take it to the Small Claims court? It doesn't cost much so may be worth a shout.

I'm not a fan of main stealers at all but whenever I've had cars in warranty I've always taken them to the dealer for a service then used independant once the warranty expires. I'm also amazed that people don't consider the costs of servicing/repairs etc when buying a car and just look at the bottom line of the car finance, and if they can't afford to pay for a service why buy a brand new car?

tech2_2

The goverment decide that the dealers had had it to good to long and brought block exemption on. This ie the right for the owner to have another garage then the dealer to service the car, as long as it is a VAT registed garage and the parts use a comparable to that of the manufacture which all are. look at the AA website for details.

This might make it clearer. I work for one of the largest non dealer service operations on the UK and we service all make and models and have no problem upholding a manufactures warrenty.

Try calling the manufactures customer service as they are very interested in helkp 99% of the time.

Good Luck

soblivion

Thank you terryya,
DD has paid for 2 services now both of £200 each, taking the car to the dealer for the service would have cost £400 each, you don't get anything extra for that price just a steeper hourly rate for the mechanics labour. It's why EU legislation came in May 2004 that you didn't have to take a car to a dealer for servicing to keep your warranty valid. If it's good enough that they made a ruling then it's good enough for me, says to me that many people obviously weren't happy to pay double for something and get no better service. There's good and bad in all professions whose to say a dealership mechanic is a better mechanic than somebody in a non dealership garage.(Thank you tech2, I have phoned the manufacturer and they will pay £100 towards it but I'm assuming only if it goes to the dealership for repair, I will check on this tomorrow)
We are looking into getting a warranty for the car and I was looking at what car online they had some info on there and I am also going to see if the vat registered garage has anything warranty wise too.
As is always the case it's their word against ours, we didn't break it, they didn't break it, could have been a rodent or in one case they saw in a alfa romeo a dead cat, could have been a stone, could have been a screwdriver, they say it's not a fault we say it could be if it lets stones in willy nilly, how do you prove it. My DD can't prove it wasn't any of those things the same as they can't prove it was. At the end of the day if we take it to court we have to prove it and they don't.
Either way she has the money to repair it and if you said to yourself I shouldn't buy this because if it breaks I may have to pay to take someone to court to get it sorted you'd never buy anything ever. You buy a brand new car rather than a 2nd hand one hoping to escape all the problems.
Thank you to all of you again, I just wondered if everyone thought that the dealer was being honest and upfront not knowing anything about cars and from the replies the majority think they have been and fiat too. That's more than good enough for me but they'll still not get any more money from us to repair it just on principal and they way they've spoken and told us she's not a valued customer.

Anihilator

What services were these too cost £200 that would have cost £400

£200 is a major service and if your daughter has reached two of these I would expect the cambelt to have been checked.

mikey72

That's the problem with block exemption, it is a good idea, and independents will do a good job on services. If it's clear-cut, dealers will honour warranty claims. If it's not clear-cut, and you need to prove it to the car manufacturer, (who is paying the dealer for the job) that's when you need the clout of the dealer but if they haven't seen you or serviced the car since you bought it, they are unlikely to step in and fight your case. Even worse if you bought it online, as others have done on here.
I've always paid over the odds and used dealers for the warranty period, mainly as insurance for this reason. After that I service them myself. I've never had a warranty problem, so I've probably made a loss, at least if you can get the belt replaced you'll still be up if you can do it for less than £200.